Hextall sticking to his old-fashioned plan
VOORHEES, N.J. » Ron Hextall says he has completed four years of The Process, Flyers style.
There are no plans for four tanked seasons as this town’s other winter sports team used and abused. Not even a somewhat less complicated and better balanced rebuild that after three dismal seasons is only now starting to produce results at Citizens Bank Park.
And there is no call, he declares, for a fast rebuild, courtesy of a slick-swapping GM and high-paying owner, even if the Eagles just did win a Super Bowl title that way.
No, for Hextall, the Flyers’ style of building is deliberate, to be done the old-fashioned way, through a succession of drafts while winning just enough to keep the fans interested. With that philosophy, it actually makes him an innovator when it comes to the Flyers’ history of the way their past general managers processed rebuilds ... by spending lots and lots of money. No so Honest Ron. “If we think a change is going to make us better as a franchise or a team, we’re going to make it,” Hextall said Thursday. “We’re not going to make a change to appease people or because we’re supposed to. We’re going to make changes to get better. If we feel like at one position anywhere in the organization, whether it’s my staff, or the coaching staff or the players or the trainers or the scouts or whatever, if we feel like we’re going to get better, we’re going to make that change. We’re not going to do what makes us popular. We’re going to do what we feel is right.”
What a certain segment of fans feel is right, at least those who made noise with their “Hakstol Must Go!” chants after a dismal Game 4 loss to the Penguins last week, is that Hextall should at least expedite the rebuild by starting all over again with a new head coach.
From a financial responsibility standpoint, that wouldn’t work for him, either, as it’s believed Dave Hakstol had originally agreed to the job via a fiveyear deal. One report was such that he won a six-year term. The history of the Flyers and the nature of how the NHL treats head coaches, of course, would offer a counterpoint that it doesn’t matter how many years Hakstol signed for.
What does matter is Hextall still thinks he’s the right coach for the job.
“I think Hak has done a really good job,” Hextall said. “I think you guys have mentioned to me a couple of times the emotional part (or lack thereof) on the bench. A team reads off a coach, there’s no question. Like Bill Belichick, is he the best coach in pro sports? Probably. Not a real emotional, hands-flying type of guy. All he does is win.
“Hak is a demanding coach. He demands a lot of our players, he demands effort and he does a lot of things behind closed doors. He doesn’t embarrass players, and I don’t look at that as a negative.”
Hextall thus said he doesn’t think the coaching staff or management need “to get better,” but added, “in saying that, we’re not satisfied. There’s a big difference between people doing their job and being satisfied. We have no reason to be satisfied. In fact, if we were, that would be pathetic.”
Yet it could be argued that if the Flyers think they have a chance to close the vast gap that exists between them and top Eastern dogs such as Final Four teams Pittsburgh, Washington, Tampa Bay and Boston — and yes, there’s a big gap — they can get just better enough while not making moves in the offseason.
Hmmm. What did those Animal House guys say when they coughed into their hands?
Hextall did righteously eviscerate the team’s penalty kill, saying a 29th NHL ranking in that specialty area was “not good enough.”
In fact, it’s rather pathetic. But assistant coach Ian Laperriere, tagged with the responsibility of trying to deal with this team’s penalty kill, isn’t going anywhere. Nor, Hextall said, is any other Hakstol assistant coach. Anyway...
“The positives to that, was there was an adjustment made,” Hextall said of the poor PK. “You look at the last 20, 22, 23 games ... we were good. Not great, but somewhere in the middle of the pack. I think when you look at special teams you always have a goal that you want to be top 10. We’re not even close.”
So Hextall, while announcing that pending free agent penalty killer Matt Read, along with pending UFA defenseman Brandon Manning will both be allowed to pursue other opportunities (good luck), said he will look to add a penalty killing-capable checking line center.
Cool. Not exactly the kind of free agency bonanza fans would be looking for with the Flyers finally able to spend some money on July 1 since they’ll be easily clear of the cap. Oh, and Jori Lehtera and maybe even Dale Weise will be drawing money from there, too.
What the Flyers really need to gain from the summer shopping and trading season is another veteran defender to stablize and solidify their second-pairing on the blue line.
While saying he didn’t disagree, Hextall splashed his water bottle on everyone and said in one deep breath, “I don’t know who is going to be there, who’s not going to sign with their teams, who’s going to be available, who’s not going to be available, (whether) they fit in with what we’re doing, (whether) they fit in the terms that we can afford.” (Exhale) “There’s a lot of digging that we have to do prior to making those decisions,” he added. “I will say we want to make our team better. We have a team that got 98 points. We’re improving and we want to do what we can to make our team better.”
But the slow rebuild? That’ll just continue, even if it means another desperate stretch drive just to get into the playoffs, even if it entails another senseless playoff pounding.
Even if it leaves the Flyers in the distance behind the Eagles and Sixers maybe even the analytical boys of summer in a changing sports market.
“We’re not going to change what we set out to do four years ago,” Hextall said. “We put a plan in place. To go sideways now would be the wrong thing to do.”